Tank gauging device



eb. 12, 1935. J, A. STOUGH TANK GAUGING DEVICE Filed April 13, 1931 68figni- H g; ,5 66

INVENTOR I BY Ja 670; yfi

ATTORNIEY Patented Feb. 12, 1935 V 1 UNITED-STATES PATENT OFF-ICE,

1,990,716 TANK GAUGING DEVICE Jay A. Stough, Tulsa, Okla.

, Application April 13, 1931, Serial No. 529,569

' 5 Claims (01. 73-82) My invention relates to gauges and more parthetank wall by an angular-bracket 18 having ticularly to apparatus of thatcharacter for gaugend flanges l9 engaging the tank wall and flXed ingthe depth of liquids in tanks to determine the thereto in any suitablemanner, and an intermequantity of liquidcontained in a tank. diateportion 20, parallel to the tank wall, may be 5 Various forms of gaugeshave been provided for secured to the housing by screws, asindicated 5this purpose, particularly for tanks having perat 21. manent roofs, butin most of these devices a por- Rotatably mounted in a bearing opening22 in tion of the gauge line remains continually in the the housing wall12 and in an aligning bearing liquid or gases within the tank and issubjected socket 23 in the wall 11 is a shaft 24 carrying a .10 todeterioration by these elements, or a portion drum 25 having sideflanges'26 and an intermedi- I of the line is exposed to the weatherelements ate flange 27 to provide spaced annular grooves and, as aresult, soon rusts or corrodes. for a brake band 28 and for a. gaugeline 29 re- It is the principal object of my invention, therespectively.One end of the brake band is atfore, to provide a device wherein theline is nortached to the pivoting end 30 of a brake lever 31 if) mallywithdrawn from the liquid in the tank and mounted on a pin 32 extendedthrough ears 33 is also entirely housed and protected from the of thedrum housing and the opposite end of the liquid, gases, and weatherelements. band is attached to the lever intermediate its Another objectof the invention is to provide ends by a pin, as shown at 34 in Fig. 2.The a device that may, with slight modifications, be brake lever isnormally retracted to inoperative used for ascertaining the quantity ofliquid in a position by a spring 35 secured to the front wall tankhavinga floating deck of either plain or of the housing and to the lever.pontoon type, or having a permanent deck. Concentric alignment of thetape with the In accomplishing these and other objects of my housing 17is maintained by an idler pulley 36 invention I have provided improveddetails of rotatably mounted in the housing above the 5 structure, thepreferred forms of which are illusspooling drum and rotation of the drumis elfected trated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: by a crank 37fixed on the shaft 24.

Fig. lis a front elevational view of thegauge The front wall of thehousing is further promounted in functional position on a storage tank.vided with a window 38 adapted to be closed by Fig. 2 is a sideelevational view of the apparaa cover 39 pivotally mounted on a pin 40so that tus shown in connection with a floating pontoon it may berotatably moved in and out of closed 30- type of deck and of a floatmechanism for suprelation with the window, and a projectingear porting agauge bob, the tank, deck, and portions 41 on the cover engages a pin 42on the housing of the gauging apparatus being shown in section when inclosed position to insure proper alignto more clearly illustrate theoperation of the ment of the cover with the window opening and gauge. tomaintain the cover in closed condition. 35

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the brake, An indicator 43 havinga lateral pointer 44 reel, and gauge line with a portion of the reelaligning with the gauge line is adjustably mounthousing broken away tomore clearly show these ed in the upper end of the housing by a threadedparts. upper end 45 and adjusting nuts 46 threaded Referring more indetail to the drawing: thereon engage opposite faces of the upper end40' 1 designates a tank, such as is commonly ernwall of the housing;ployed for storing crude oil or Icy-products of pe- Means for rigidlysupporting the vertical sectroleum, and includes a bottom wall 2, aperiphtion 1'7 in its relation with the tank includes dieral side wallor tank shell 3 anda girder 4 severging brace rods 47 anchored in anarcuate cured to'the shell adjacent its upper edgeby an plate 48 fixedto the supporting section by U- 45 annular angle member 5 and braces 6.Tanks bolts 49 and the opposite ends of the rods may be of this type areprovided with floating decks 8 secured-to the tank wall by bolts 50. Thesupas shown in Fig. 2. portingsection 17 is further secured to thegirder The gauging apparatus includes a reel housing 4 by an angle plate51 and a U-bolt 52. 10 having side walls 11 and 12, a front wall 13 andFixed on the upper end of the tubular section a rear wall 14, its lowerend being open as shown 17 is an elbow housing 53 having a laterally at15, and itsupper, end terminating in a rethreaded opening 54 forreceiving a horizontal stricted threaded opening 16 for receiving thesection 55 projecting over the top of the tank and lower threaded end ofa vertical conduit section connected with a downwardly depending section1 17. The housing is spaced from and secured to 56 in parallel relationwith the section 17 by an 55 elbow housing 57 threadedly engaging theinner end of the horizontal section and the upper threaded end of thedepending portion.

A vertical support for the tubular guides comprises downwardly divergingbrace rods 58 having upper ends secured in an arcuate seat 59 clamped tothe horizontal member 55 by U-bolts 60, and

he lower ends of the rods terminate in foot porions 61 fixed by bolts62, or the like, to the periphral angle 5 of the tank girder.

A hood 63 having a swaged neck 64 is secured to the lower end of thedepending section 56 by a coupling 65 for a purpose presently described.

Each of the elbow housings rotatably supports a grooved guide roller 66mounted on a transverse shaft 67 journalled in the housing, and closureplates 68 are removably attached to the open upper end of the housingsto permit mounting of the guide rollers in the elbows.

The gauge or tape line 29 having one end anchored to the drum is guidedconcentrically through the vertical section 17, the horizontal section55 and the depending portion 56 by the guide pulleys 36. and 66 and itsopposite end extends downwardly from the hood 63 and is secured to aconical shaped gauge bob '70 by an eyebolt 71.

Spaced projections or foot portions 72 on the lower end of the gauge bobserve to insure proper seating of the bob on float mechanism if a layerof sediment has accumulated thereon.

In the pontoon type of tank decks, the depth to which the deck will besubmerged in the liquid in the'tank will vary due to liquid collectingon the surface of the deck, to gas pressure accumulating below the deckand adding to the buoyant effect of the pontoons, or to other causes,and the readings taken after lowering a gauge bob on the tank deck wouldnot be accurate for these reasons.

I have, therefore, provided a float attachment to be used with myapparatus for taking readings on tanks wherein floating decks of thepontoon type are used. This float structure is particularly illustratedin Fig. 2 and includes a flanged section '73 surrounding an opening '74formed in the deck 8. A cover plate '75 is fixed to the upper flange ofthe section '73 by means, such as bolts '76, and is provided with aconcentric opening 77 for guiding a stem '78 secured in its slidingrelation with the cover by a packing gland '79. The lower end of theshaft carries a float 80 adapted to rest on the surface of the liquid inthe tank and the upper end of the stem supports a cover plate 81 fixedthereto by nuts 82 and having a downwardly extending peripheral flange83 to prevent collection of dirt on the cover plate '75. As will beobvious from the drawing, the elevation of the gauge bob, whenpositioned on the hood 81, will be determined by the float and not bythe pontoon deck, a soft packing being provided for the gland to preventescape of gas from the chamber above the body of oil and beneath thedeck, and to prevent excessive resistance to the float stem in itssliding travel through the gland. The retention of gases in the section'73 by the packing further insures uniform pressure on the entire floatsurface.

Assuming an apparatus to be constructed and assembled on a tank having afloating roof of the pontoon type, the operation for determining thedepth of liquid in the tank would be as follows:

By rotating the crank in anti-clockwise direction the gauge line isunwound from the spool until the plumb bob contacts the hood 81. Thelength of the tape unwound from the spool may then be observed byopening the closure plate and noting the calibrations on the tapealigning with the indicator 43. After a reading has been taken the crankis rotated in a clockwise direction to wind the tape on the spool untilthe gauge bob is drawn into the hood 63. When in this position it isapparent that the tape is entirely inclosed within the housing andtubular guide sections and is fully protected. This not only preventscorrosion of the line by action of chemicals in the liquid or gases butalso prevents accumulation of ice on the line which would tend tostretch the line and result in inaccuracy of calculation when measuringthe contents of a tank.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a pontoon-type floating deck having an opening,tank gauging apparatus including afloat movably guided in said openingand adapted to rest on a body of liquid below the deck, a gauge linemovably suspended above the float, a gauge bob on the line engageablewith the float, and means in conjunction with the gauge line forindicating level of liquid below the deck.

2. In combination with a floating deck having an opening, a member onthe deck for guiding a float relative to said opening, a float in guiderelation with said member and adapted for buoyant support on a body ofliquid below the deck, a gauge line movably suspended above the float, agauge bob on the line engageable with the float, and means inconjunction with the gauge line and bob for indicating level of liquidbelow the deck.

3. In combination with the floating deck of a liquid storage tank,having a vertical opening, a tubular member for guiding a float relativeto said opening, a float buoyantly supported by liquid in the tank andmovable in guided relation to the tubular member independently ofmovement of the deck, a gauge line movably suspended above the float, agauge bob on said line engageable with the float, and means inconjunction with the gauge line for indicating depth of liquid in thetank.

4. In combination with a pontoon-type floating deck having an opening, atubular member surrounding the opening, a cover for said member having aguide opening, tank gauging apparatus including a float extended throughthe deck opening and having a stem slidable in the guide opening, stopmeans on said stem, a gauge line in substantially concentric alignmentwith the float, a gauge bob on the line engageable with said stop means,and means in conjunction with the gauge line for indicating level ofliquid below the deck.

5. In combination with a pontoon-type floating deck having an opening, atubular section surrounding the opening, and a cover for said sectionhaving a guide opening, tank gauging apparatus including a float adaptedto rest on a body of liquid below the deck, a stem on the float extendedthrough said guide opening, a hood carried by the stem in coveringrelation with said tubular section, a gauge line in substantiallyconcentric alignment with the float, a gauge bob on the line engageablewith said hood, and means in conjunction with the gauge line forindicating level of liquid below the deck.

JAY A. STOUGH.

